On our massive overreaction to coronavirus

Since a single case of coronavirus was confirmed last Friday afternoon, an epic level of crazy has ensued.  Sadly, this hasn't come as a surprise.  Since the WHO declared the outbreak to be an emergency on the 30th of January, I've seen and heard some crazy shit.  And most of it has come in the form of crappy ways to be racist.

In my workplace we had two racist incidents directly linked to fear of coronavirus.  In one instance a customer was afraid of touching an eftpos machine because it had been touched by a colleague.  This woman had deemed her to be a 'risk' for coronavirus based on no information other than what she looks like.  Not long after this happened one of our kids friends was told by a parent that to keep safe (regarding the virus) they needed to wash their hands regularly, and stay away from Asian people*.

At work I've had an elderly customer accuse us of 'hoarding' hand sanitiser because I could not tell them who our workplace supplier was (I do not know.  That is not my job).  I've had customers ask to purchase our half full hand sanitiser and then give me the evils when I said that wasn't possible as it was not a product we stocked.  We have hand santiser at the counters because we handle all sorts of things in the department store and don't have easy access to hand washing whilst on the floor.  We use it to keep both ourselves, and our customers safe.  We do this regardless of pandemic.  We are not hell bent on hoarding hand sanitiser.

Early in February Bunnings sold out of face masks.  These face masks do not prevent the spread of viruses.  What they are designed for is to prevent dust and wood/stone particles from being breathed in to someones lungs.  Buying these masks to prevent virus spread isn't just stupid, but it unnecessarily endangers those who actually need those masks:  our tradespeople and our DIYers.  These are the kinds of people these masks are designed to protect.

Support your local Asian Supermarket 
Unlike Countdown, there are no queues

And by mid February our Chinese restaurants were suffering.  Now unless you're dining on pangolin the likelihood of contracting coronavirus from food is very low.  Sure, most Chinese restaurants are run by Chinese people.  But being Chinese does not make people more likely to have coronavirus.  If you are assuming that most Chinese Kiwi's are flying in and out of Wuhan on the reg you would be wrong.  Not only are there travel restrictions in place, but to do that, you'd need a lot of money, and considering on average white folk earn almost double that of our Asian population that seems unlikely.  It also completely ignores the fact that many Kiwi Chinese folk may never have been to China.  Many have families that have lived here for generations and are just as likely to have come in contact with coronavirus as I am.  Today I did the vege shopping and mine was literally the only white face in my local Asian supermarket.  People, this isn't being smart or safe.  This is being racist and xenophobic. 

This is our response to one confirmed case in New Zealand.

I struggle to understand.  I truly do.

Well, I struggle to understand the panic shopping and water hoarding. 

I don't struggle to understand Brian Tamaki's reaction.  His responses are always fairly transparent.  He is taking advantage of peoples fears to promote his 'product'.  Given that his wife, Hannah Tamaki is heading a new political party, this is doubly beneficial for him.  The more folk on board with Destiny, the more votes they can count in this next election and the more power he has.  You might be thinking 'Balderdash!  No-one is crazy enough to believe in airborne demons' but you would be wrong.  People believe masks will save them.  People are hoarding food like the apocalypse is at hand.  This is the perfect time for those like Brian Tamaki to take advantage of peoples fears.

Yoda is here to save the day (again)                    

And thinking like Brian Tamaki is dangerous**.  He, and others like him will use the coronavirus to promote hate speech.  He will use coronavirus to back their idea of culling immigration by 97%.  He will use the rise in cases in Iran to back the idea that mosques are evil.  In promoting misinformation around coronavirus and its spread he is actively making it harder for us to manage best practice in containing it.  And in feeding on common fears, he will appeal to many more than you would think.

Now, onto panic buying.  Following the global trend, once Aotearoa had its first confirmed case folk started buying up large at the supermarket.  In Auckland, given we're in drought I do understand big water purchases.  What concerns me is that there are many on tank water who genuinely have need for this water***.  What if they miss out because John Smith has decided to stash some for the end of days?  I get that people are freaked out.  The reality is that this pandemic is impacting production in China.  The reality is that much of the stuff we take for granted does come from China.  But given the timing that hoarding began - immediately after a case was confirmed - I suspect most of these buyers weren't thinking of that.  I think they were thinking more about hiding at home in fear of the virus.  This thinking is also informed by how quiet my workplace has been since Thursday, and how quiet the gym and pools are.  People are scared to go out.

Panic buying is selfish.  It fails to consider those with greater need.  It fails to consider those with cancer or otherwise affected immune systems who need consistent access to hand sanitiser.  It fails to consider those for whom the masks are actually designed.  It fails to consider those affected by drought.  It fails to consider how this may impact on food banks, and those reliant on them.  On those who can't afford to panic shop.  Panic buying looks like people not thinking and making selfish choices.

What is far worse than this are those taking advantage.  Who see this fear as opportunity.

Frank and Fiona Gallagher making the most of a Chicago Blackout (Shameless)

We had a nursery sale a week ago and a man came in and purchased all of our thermometers.  Now, I could be wrong in my assumptions here.  This man may have been purchasing on behalf of a charity group, or purchasing for extended family to send overseas.  But I've often experienced customers doing both of these things and this man did not behave like them.  Usually they already have a finite number in mind, or people they are thinking of and naming/counting off as they choose what they want.  This man just said 'all'.  And to hedge his bets he bought one style of thermometer from me, and another from a co-worker at another counter in two separate trips**** so I strongly suspect they were purchased to onsell.  We have had to turn so many people away since because we do not have thermometers in stock.  Mostly parents of sick kids.  It's an awful feeling.  I am sure there are many, many other examples of this happening worldwide.

The immense drop in air pollution over China courtesy of NASA

I think the only reason we're scared about China shutting down is because we are scared of change.  We are used to our fast food and online shopping.  We are used to not having to think about where our food, clothing, furniture and phones come from.  The reality is that since production and transport has slowed in China their nitrogen dioxide rates have dropped drastically.  How can this be a bad thing?  We know global warming is real.  We see it happening right in front of us.  We just had 42 days without measurable rain in Auckland.  Why has it taken a pandemic to make immediate and massive change?

The reality is that we will have to make some changes, but most of those changes will, by necessity, be more sustainable.  We may have to start shopping seasonally as shipping from the Northern hemisphere slows.  We may have to start mending our clothes and buying second hand.  We may have to start considering buying NZ made when there are few other options available.  All of these things are things we should be doing, but many of us aren't.  These are all positive changes.

If we continue to live in fear, if we continue to perpetrate these selfish acts we will create more disorder, more hurt and more stress in what is already a scary time.  It is not hard to be kind.  In fact, we are stronger when we are united.  If growing our own fruits and veges becomes more important, we should co-ordinate with friends and neighbours to support those with greater need.  We can host clothes swaps to freshen up our wardrobes.  We can teach each others children those important skills around growing and preserving food that have been lost.  If we share what we have, we have more options.

Rather than choosing fear, choose kindness.  Support your local Chinese restaurants and supermarkets.  Think of others before you buy more than you need.  Remember the fatality rate is about 2%, and if you're under 50 that drops to 0.4%.  Transmission rates are slightly higher than the flu but much, much lower than measles.  This is not the modern plague.  Educate yourself on COVID-19.  Read the guidelines on how to keep safe.  Wash your hands.  Be rational.  But most importantly, be kind.

* I'm happy to say this misinformation was corrected by the other parent and step parent before it became a thing.

** While I'm not religious myself I believe strongly in peoples rights to religion freedom.  Consequently I cannot stomach those like Tamaki who aim to take those rights away.  While I am not religious I was raised with Christianity.  I have read the Bible (and the Bhagavad Gita) and I cannot for the life of me believe that anyone trying to be like Christ would behave as the Tamaki's do.  Jesus was about kindness.  He was about forgiveness.  He was about love of your fellow man.  He cared for those less fortunate (here's an awesome article about recontextualising how Jesus would behave now regarding homelessness).  He did not care for possessions or riches.  He threw the money lenders out of the temple.  He would never have people tithing when he knew they could not afford it.  While I believe in freedom of religion I cannot believe that a church that puts fear and hate ahead of kindness and humanity is a good thing.  I will not apologise for condemning these actions.

*** The need for tank water refills is so great that a friend said they were told by two water supply companies they couldn't get anything to them until April.  They are using the laundromat, showering at the local gym and totally reliant on bought water for drinking.

**** We just realised this yesterday ie: I didn't know she had also sold him a ridiculous number of thermometers and vice versa.  We conferred after another store called in the hopes that we had one, so I suspect this happened at other stores too.